Croatia/Slovenia in May

Hi. My significant other and I did a trip like this about 5 years ago, but spent about 3 weeks doing it, staying in a couple more small towns (Kobarid, Piran, Rovinj, Korcula).

I don't think you will have time to see much other than the 4 towns you mention, briefly, in 10 days.

We did not visit Zagreb so I can't comment on it.

We really enjoyed Slovenia and Llubljana. If I were to move to Europe, I would move there. It's a country whose heroes are architects and poets. It's relatively inexpensive. And everyone speaks English.

We also liked Croatia, but the people there seemed just a little less modern and enlightened. Most still can speak English.

The one stop I recommend you adding to your itinerary is Plitvice Lakes. That would require renting a car in Croatia, driving there the night before, staying one night, and showing up as soon as it opens in the morning to beat the crowds. But it's worth the effort, IMHO.

So, one option (similar to what we did) might be to consider flying in to Llubljana, staying two nights there, taking a train just past the border in Croatia, renting a car, driving to Plitvice Lakes, staying one night there, seeing the lakes and driving to Split and returning the rental car, staying two nights in Split, taking the ferry to Hvar, staying one or two nights there, taking the ferry to Dubrovnik, and staying the rest of your time there, possibly taking a day trip to the bay of Kotor in Montenegro.

But that's just one option similar to what worked for us.

I spent 10 nights on a Croatia-only trip by car that included flying into Dubrovnik, driving up the cost, visiting KRKA Nataional Park and flying out of Zagreb. On a separate 16 day trip, we visited Istria, Plitvice, Ljubljana, among other places in Slovenia.

At a minimum, you might want in each destination:

2 days Dubrovnik
1 day Split
2 days Zagreb
2 days Ljubljana

If you add:
1 day Hvar
2-3 days Istria (not really a day trip, especially by public transportation)

You're already at 10-11 days, without transportation between cities, which - by public transport - will chew up a lot of those days. Plus, at the very least, I would add the world-class Plitvice national park in Croatia. And if you're in Ljubljana, you might want to visit Lake Bled in Slovenia.

Rather than incorporating Ljubljana, mysuggestion would be to focus on Southern Croatia and flying out of Zagreb, adding in Plitvice Park. That is enough for a fabulous 10 night trip. You can save Istria and Slovenia for another amazing trip.

I concur with Matt that renting a car in Croatia makes your itinerary much more plausible. Public transport in those areas is possible, but you'll need to add the time to your itinerary to allow for it.

We rented a car as we left Dubrovnik, drove up the coast, and returned the car on arrival in Zagreb. Driving in Croatia (outside the cities) is very easy. We didn't pay much (if any) of a drop-off fee, but you'd want to compare rental companies as that will vary.

Thank you all for quick and helpful replies. We haven't ruled out renting a car, but would prefer not to. We've also discussed doing it in two trips. One visiting cities in the north and one for the south.

Even hiring a car, you will spend more time in transit than visiting places and you will incur an expensive one way drop fee if leaving the car in Slovenia, as it will have to be repatriated. Hiring a car for Dubrovnik to Split doesn’t make sense, as you won’t need it at either end.

Day 1 - arrive in Dubrovnik and try to stay awake and fight jet lag.

Day 2 - Dubrovnik

Day 3 - transfer in the afternoon to Split by bus.

Day 4 - Split

Day 5 - day trip to Hvar town or Stari Grad on Hvar

Day 6 - Hire a car in Split, then half day trip to Trogir and drive to Plitvice

Day 7 - day at Plitvice

Day 8 - drive to Zagreb and drop the car.

Day 9 - Zagreb

Day 10 - Zagreb

Day 11 - home

This is a very rushed trip that I wouldn’t want to do, but your pace maybe quicker than mine. I would spend the time Dubrovnik - Stari Grad on Hvar for 3 nights - Split with a quick overnight trip to Plitvice then back to Split for the return flight.

For what it is worth, we spend 10-14 days in Istria every Easter for many years now. We still haven't seen it all. You are really trying to do way too much.

With 10 nights, either do just Slovenia or Split/Dubrovnik. You really must rent a car.

We haven't ruled out renting a car, but would prefer not to.

It's not often that this forum will recommend renting a car, but Croatia and Slovenia (apart from the bigger cities) are one area where it can make sense. There are others on the forum who have traveled these areas by public transit. Perhaps they will chime in and give you an idea of the logistics.

Alternatively, you can visit 3 of your cities:

Fly into Dubrovnik
2 days Dubrovnik
Short flight to Zagreb
2.5 days Zagreb
1 day trip to Plitvice (rent a car for that day or book a tour)
Travel to Ljubljana (bus or train)
1.5 days Ljubljana
1 day trip to Lake Bled (car rentals available from Ljubljana center)
Fly home from Ljubljana

Thanks again. We will discuss further. We don't want to be rushed and also don't want to spend more time than necessary in transit. Much appreciated.

I totally disagree with the suggestion to day-trip to Plitvice, whether by rental car or tour. The park gets blitzed by day-trippers to the point that the experience is seriously degraded. Don't spoil your time at one of Europe's finest natural sights by trying to see it in the middle of the day. You really, realy need tomspend the night in or near the park so you can get inside when it opens in the morning. If you arrive in time to see part of the park in the late afternoon, that seems to work also. There is public-bus service from Zagreb to Plitvice and less frequent service from Plitvice to Split. A car would be a great deal easier and would allow you to stay in a lodging outside the park. It is said that the two hotels in the park are overpriced and not great.

I've traveled through Slovenia and Croatia by public transportation. It can be done, but not at the pace you are proposing. There are no fast trains in that part of Europe; in fact there are few trains of any type. The buses are comfortable and (in my experience) reliable--if not always on schedule--but they will be a lot slower than your own car.

I agree that 10 nights isn't long enough to see both Slovenia and all of the northern and southern Croatia highlights. Do either Slovenia + northern Croatia or southern Croatia, not both.

I always take public transportation in Europe whenever I can. This year I went back to Italy and took the trains; last year I went to Portugal and took trains and buses. But, Slovenia and Croatia don't have great rail networks. They do have decent bus service, but driving is so easy and cheap that it's very practical to rent a car and drive there, and I've done it on most of my visits to these countries. The biggest hick-up with driving is renting a car in one country and dropping it in another - that can incur a significant drop-off fee. There are some strategies to avoid that fee, however, and sometimes it's not that big of a fee.

Just to give you an idea how long you might need, this was our itinerary for this past September that included Croatia, Montenegro, and Slovenia: Dubrovnik (3 nights including a day trip to Bay of Kotor); Split (4 nights including a day trip to Hvar Town and a day trip to Trogir); Plitvice Lakes NP (one night); Zagreb (2 nights); and Ljubljana (3 nights including a day trip to Lake Bled). So that is a total of 13 nights. We flew from Boston into Dubrovnik and out of Ljubljana back to Boston. You cannot do the trip you want plus day trips in 9 days. You would be rushing from place to place.

With your current itinerary, you will be rushed and you will spend a lot of time in transit.

I agree with Matt and others who recommend renting a car. We rented our car when we left Dubrovnik and then we drove to Split with a couple of hours stop in the Mali Ston area on the Peljesac Peninsula for an awesome fresh fish lunch. We used our car to drive to Trogir from Split. We then drove to Plitvice, where we stayed one night. We visited the park late in the afternoon we arrived to beat the crowds, and then returned to the park early the next morning to see the rest and before the crowds returned. Then we drove to Zagreb, where we returned our car. After 2 nights there, we took the train to Ljubljana. This is just to give you an idea of how to travel to places.

There are no trains south of Split. You could take the bus from Dubrovnik to Split if you don't rent a car. There is a train from Split to Zagreb, but then you would miss Plitvice.

I would visit just Croatia on this trip, and return to visit Slovenia and perhaps Istria on another trip.

Thank you all again. We will discuss doing separate trips for North and South and also the possibility of renting a car. We rented a car in Tuscany this year, and while the driving was overall ok, there were some stressful moments. I hope it's a little easier in Croatia.

If you arrive in time to see part of the park in the late afternoon, that seems to work also.

This approach worked quite well for us, leaving by car from Zagreb in the morning, in what amounted to a "day trip." We arrived mid-day when the entry areas of the park were not crowded at all. By the time we walked deeper into the park, many of the day-trippers had left the area and were heading back. We then continued for several hours where we had sections of the walkway practically to ourselves and only occasionally found ourselves backed up in pedestrian traffic.

We left the park in the late afternoon/evening on our way towards Istria. This was all easily doable by car, from Zagreb in the morning. October 5, 2 years ago. May will be more crowded, but not as bad as summer. It was also before the online ticket booking system. We just walked up and bought our tickets - no line.

You also need not rent a car the entire time. You don't need a car in Ljubljana for example, and having one in a town with such large pedestrian-only zones is kind of a pain. You can rent one for just a day (I did that last time in Ljubljana) or rent it as you leave town. There's a scenic detour from Ljubljana to Bled via the town of Skofja Loka (which is lovely and worth a stop on its own). The mountain drive from Skofja Loka to Bled (not via Kranj, through the mountains via Jamnik and Kropa) is really beautiful and scenic. You can get to Bled from Ljubljana easily by bus, but you'd completely miss that scenic drive, which was one of the highlights of my first major trip to Slovenia.

We did rent a car for the day when we were in Ljubljana. And we took the scenic drive to Lake Bled that Andrew suggests. In fact, I learned about that scenic drive from Andrew. The scenery is spectacular! It was one of the highlights of our trip.

I forgot to add that driving in Croatia is very easy!

You all have been very helpful. We have discussed and have decided to spend this trip in the north of Croatia and also Slovenia. Thinking about adding Lake Bled while in Slovenia and Istria as well, while in Croatia. If renting a car is most practical for some of the trip, we will do that. Thanks again.

I think visiting northern Croatia and Slovenia in one trip is a great idea! And don't forget that you can take the train from Zagreb to Ljubljana, and vice versa, if it fits in with your itinerary. It's a short train ride, about 2.5 hours, and very inexpensive (about 9 euros one way) if you purchase the tickets the day before.

You will love this part of Europe!

Forgot to add that Lake Bled is beautiful and will be easy to visit while you are in Slovenia. It is very close to Ljubljana. Friends of ours were there last May, and they said it was still quiet, which is nice. It was extremely busy and crowded when we were there in September.

You all have been very helpful. We have discussed and have decided to spend this trip in the north of Croatia and also Slovenia. Thinking about adding Lake Bled while in Slovenia and Istria as well, while in Croatia. If renting a car is most practical for some of the trip, we will do that. Thanks again.

There are a few strategies for car rental, then. You could actually fly into Zagreb if you want, spend the first night (I wouldn't drive jet lagged the first day), and rent the car as you leave Zagreb. You could loop through Slovenia, back to Istria, stop at Plitvice, and drop the car in Zagreb as you leave.

You could also rent the car as you leave Ljubljana and return it before heading to Croatia. Once, I took the train from Ljubljana to Rijeka and rented a car there, then drove an hour Istria and eventually returned the car in Zagreb. That would avoid a drop charge between two countries. But, the drop charge (e.g. Sixt, rent in Ljubljana, drop in Zagreb) may not be that much so maybe not worth the trouble I took to avoid the charge.

But I think you'll want a car for the scenic drives near Bled, as I said, and probably in Istria to explore the hill towns. And it makes stopping at Plitvice a lot easier.

You can add another night in Slovenian Istria, in say Piran, a charming seaside town, if you want to make sure you get enough seaside time. In Croatia Istria, I stayed in Rovinj, another lovely Venetian seaside town and a great base for exploring Istria.

Thanks. Yes, Rovinj is on our list, maybe Pula. We'll have to figure out if having a car for whole trip, outside of Zagreb, is better than separate rentals for Lake Bled in Slovenia and Istria in Croatia. Again, thanks for all the insight. One more question, is the driving around Istria's hilltowns similar to Tuscan hilltowns, with regard to restricted access and such? Our RS Croatia/Slovenia guidebook will arrive shortly, then we can start researching specifics.

We drove this route in 2017, renting a car on leaving Zagreb, headed to Plitvice and returning it in Zagreb to avoid any drop-off fees. We had 14 nights, 3 in Trieste, which I deleted from the route map. You can easily cover the same route by car, choosing how many days to spend in each location.

Numerous of the small towns on the Istrian peninsula are pedestrian only in the center, as is Ljubljana. Some of the towns have metered street parking, others have paid lots.

There is an AVIS rental counter in the Grand Union Hotel in the center of Ljubljana if you decide to rent from there to visit Lake Bled and other areas in Slovenia. They also have secure parking if you rent a car in Zagreb and drive to Ljubljana, as we did.

If you rent the car in Zagreb, it may not come equipped with the "vignette" for driving on Slovenian highways, so you'll need to purchase that as you enter Slovenia.

There is no such thing as restricted access for cars in Istria.

Pula is less than 30 minutes from Rovinj. Just pick one central base in Istria and drive from there. We usually rent a house near Zminj. No need to change locations within Istria.